Tromeo & Juliet starts with
an intro by Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma and
creator of the Toxic Avenger, and "Michael
Herz" (again being played by Troma staple
Joe Fleishaker). The intro mocks the fact the two
leads, Will Keenan and Jane Jensen, both declined
to be part of the 10th anniversary DVD. The reasons
given herein for another conspicuous absence are
actually the reasons Keenan and Jensen weren't
involved.

Tromeo & Juliet's
story is the expected star-crossed lovers bit,
this time with a penis monster. The Ques and the
Capulets are feuding families, but Tromeo Que
and Juliet Capulet have never met. When Tromeo
sneaks in to a Capulet party, he sees Juliet for
the first time, and instantly falls in love with
her. Juliet falls for Tromeo as well, but then
they find out whom the other is, and that's
where the star-crossed bit comes in, but it's
still a while to the penis monster.

Tromeo & Juliet was released
the same year as Baz Luhrmann's Romeo
+ Juliet. I can't really say which
is the better updating, because I've never
seen the Luhrmann film. I'm going to go
out on a limb and guess that the Troma movie is
superior, simply because any film that doesn't
have Leonadro DiCaprio has got
to be better than one that does.

Tromeo & Juliet marked a
turning point for Troma, where, despite shrinking
budgets, their films began being taken somewhat
seriously. This is probably due to the fact this
script, from Slither writer/director
James Gunn and a certain Toxic Avenger creator,
shows enough cleverness that even those not into
the Troma style could still see some merit. While
there is a weird mix of genuinely funny lines
with terrible jokes and fart noises, any fan of
Troma knows that's been going on for years
in their films, but the intelligence factor is
upped here. Perhaps the fact it takes nearly five
minutes before the first bit of nudity won some
previous naysayers over as well, despite the fact
it would've disappointed long time Troma
fans.

That being said, Tromeo still
needs tightening. There're significant gaps
in the film, a telltale sign that director Lloyd
Kaufman, president of Troma and creator of the
Toxic Avenger, shot too much footage. This is
particularly evident when Tromeo and Juliet's
plan to undo her prior engagement is completed,
but they're STILL dealing with trying to
prevent her wedding for the rest of the movie,
so something major must've been cut. It
also doesn't help that there are some fairly
obvious things happening plot wise, and most viewers
will know exactly what the "shocking"
final twist will be WELL before the film gets
there.

However, this is a fun Troma film heartily recommended
to any of the studio's fans. The performances
all suit the film, and there are some real thespians
on hand. The gore is tacky as fuck, though one
scene still induces a wince regardless, with gratuitous
nudity and good ol' fashioned bad taste
also contributing to the film's charm. Troma
would go completely balls to the wall a few years
later with Terror
Firmer, which makes Tromeo
& Juliet seem downright tame in comparison,
but this is still an important film in the Troma
catalogue. Plus it launched the career of Gunn,
one of the few people who used Troma as a stepping
stone, but didn't forget about the initial
helping hand Troma gave them.

Video

Tromeo & Juliet is presented
at 1.33:1. The film has grain, specks, and dirt,
and the image is a bit soft. Yep, looks like a Troma
film!

Audio

First a warning that the main menu absolutely
blasts Motörhead's "Sacrifice."
The two-channel mix for the actual movie is adequate.
The dialogue is clear, but some sounds are slightly
muffled. There're also some "s"
hisses, but the track isn't too bad for a
low budget film. The volume can change a lot between
things, like say, the main menu and the feature
film, or from one deleted scene to another.

Extra Features

I haven't seen the first DVD release, or
the laserdisc for that matter, of Tromeo
& Juliet, but it looks like it had
mostly different features. Whether that's
a pro or a con is up to you.

The first disc has
deleted scenes, each with intros by Lloyd Kaufman,
president of Troma and creator of the Toxic Avenger.
Yes, we can finally see Ron Jeremy as a background
actor for a few seconds. I guess the part is slightly
bigger than his one in Killing Zoe,
at least. There's also a "stunt gone
wrong" segment, which is a precursor to
some of the stunt man mishaps found in the feature
length Troma behind the scenes docos, and a quick
outtake. A video excerpt of Lloyd Kaufman, president
of Troma and creator of the Toxic Avenger, and
James Gunn commenting on the deleted scenes is
also included.

The first disc also has FOUR commentary tracks,
to rival the amount found on Eli Roth's Hostel.
Obviously, with four tracks, info does repeat,
but each track is worthwhile. I know I said Hostel had too many commentaries, but the most anyone
appears on the Tromeo tracks
is twice, and there's a 9-year difference
between the recording sessions, so they are able
to present new slants on things.

First up is a roughly seven minute featurette
on the recording of the new commentary with James
Gunn and Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma and
creator of the Toxic Avenger. The track starts
with Lemmy bashing, which was what got Gunn's
previous commentary left off the last DVD release.
It's a humorous commentary, which isn't
surprising, and it's really good to hear
someone who worked on set with Lloyd Kaufman (president
of Troma and creator of the Toxic Avenger) and
still calls him a friend.

The second commentary was recorded in 1997, and
features Gunn and his brother Sean, who co-starred
in Tromeo & Juliet and really
suffered for his art. Previously banned for shit
talking, this is a good, lively track that mocks
Lemmy, Billy Bob Thorton (from Troma's own Chopper
Chicks in Zombietown), other cast
members, and the FX.

The third commentary is with Tromeo &
Juliet editor Frank Reynolds and Gabe
Friedman, that cool editor guy that does commentaries
and makes kick ass docos about Troma. This is
also a good track, and particularly relevant to
those who want to hear about how film editing
has changed in the last 10 years, especially at
Troma.

And, finally, we get the original 1997 commentary
by Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma and creator
of the Toxic Avenger. This is another great tongue
in cheek track, with lots of info for him to cover,
like the Shakespeare connection.

On disc two, fans will finally get to see the
full version of Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma
and creator of the Toxic Avenger, visiting the
set of Slither. There's
also a short featurette of James Gunn and Lloyd
Kaufman, president of Troma and creator of the
Toxic Avenger, going to Eli Roth's birthday
party.

A Wisely video clip is included because the leader
of the band scored Tromeo & Juliet.
The clip features Andy Dick and some porn star,
but that doesn't change the fact that the
music is awful. Two kinda funny fan recreations
of famous Tromeo & Juliet moments are here, as are the original laserdisc
intro and outro. Speaking of intros, there are
several intros or Troma's Edge clips featuring
cast members Stephen Blackehart or Jane Jensen
or both. Blackehart does the Redneck
Zombies intro, which is still my
favourite Troma intro ever. The Cannibal!:
The Musicalintro is also included
because it features James Gunn, as are snippets
from Tales
From The Crapperand Citizen
Toxiethat feature him. The masturbation
public service announcement is present, I assume
for the clip from Tromeo, as
is the hamster public service announcement, but
I don't know why the later was added. Rehearsal
footage of the lesbian scene is here, but there's
no nudity, so it's not as good as the lesbian
rehearsal egg from Citizen Toxie.

But the main extra on this disc is a series of
interviews with the cast and crew. A few of them,
like Willie Wisely and Lisbeth Kaufman, are actually
skits, but most are interviews. You can check
out the crew interviews to get a taste of the
chaos on set, but it's still too bad there
wasn't enough archive footage for Gabe Friedman
to do another doco. Also in this section are Stephen
Blackehart and Joe (Wrong Turn 2)
Lynch discussing Tromeo & Juliet and its impact.

We also get a few trailers. There's one
for Lollilove, which I think
looks great, and has involvement from Blackehart
and Gunn, and one for Rockabilly
Vampire, which starred Blackehart.
There're also the trailers for Make
Your Own Damn Movie, and (presented with
a funny menu title) the three books by Lloyd Kaufman,
president of Troma and creator of the Toxic Avenger.
The most important trailer on the disc is Poultrygeist's.
This movie is going to kick ass all over everything!

Oh, and the Radiation March is here as well.
God forbid Troma put out a DVD that didn't
have that on it…

But if all that didn't meet your Troma
needs, there're also three Easter eggs,
all found on disc two.

On the main menu, press up to make the line "Wherefore
art thou?" appear. Press enter to see Lloyd
Kaufman, president of Troma and creator of the
Toxic Avenger, face accusations on double dipping
with this DVD, and explaining the absence of Will
Keenan and Jane Jensen on the DVD. One's
excuse for not participating is valid, the other's
is just odd.

Press right on "Debbie Rochon" in
the cast interviews to see some outtakes from
her interview, which is actually pretty amusing.

Press right on the music video in the bonuses
menu to highlight "Ella Records."
Press enter to see a tour of the Wisely home.

Not to be outdone by the Tenafly Viper stickers
found in the Synapse DVD of Street Trash,
Troma have included rub on tattoos like the ones
the leads get in the film.

The Verdict

If Troma ever actually get on the remastering
bandwagon, they'll be one of the best DVD
companies around. They certainly now how to put
out a special edition so crammed full of new stuff,
I can't imagine people complaining seriously
about double dipping. I just wish they'd match
their extras content with high quality presentations
of their films, but who else is going to put out
a movie that has incest, splattered brains, popcorn
pregnancy, and the Bard? The priest flashback alone
is worth checking the movie out for, but the sheer
amount of extra features makes this an essential
purchase for Troma fans, even if they already had
the previous release.

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